UK Phone Number Regex for PHP

What this pattern does

This page provides a comprehensive, battle-tested regular expression for matching uk phone number, ported and verified for PHP. A rigorously tested regex reduces debugging time and protects your application from edge-case failures. The snippet below is ready to drop into your PHP project — whether you're validating in a Laravel validator, a WordPress plugin, or a standalone PHP script.

Php Implementation

<?php
// UK Phone Number
// ReDoS-safe | RegexVault — Localization > Phone Numbers

define('UK_PHONE_NUMBER_PATTERN', '/^(?:\+44|0)(?:\s|-)?(?:[1-9][0-9]{1,4})(?:\s|-)?(?:[0-9]{3,4})(?:\s|-)?(?:[0-9]{3,4})$/');

function validate_uk_phone_number(string $input): bool {
    return (bool) preg_match(UK_PHONE_NUMBER_PATTERN, $input);
}

// Example
var_dump(validate_uk_phone_number("+44 20 7946 0958")); // bool(true)

Test Cases

When to use this pattern

This pattern is drawn from the Localization > Phone Numbers category and carries a ReDoS-safe certification. That matters for PHP developers because especially relevant in PHP where PCRE backtracking limits can trigger silent failures on malicious input. RegexVault audits patterns against known backtracking attack vectors, ensuring you have the necessary context before using this regex in a high-stakes production environment.

Common Pitfalls

Technical Notes

UK uses a complex numbering plan. 020 = London, 0161 = Manchester, 07xxx = mobile, 0800 = freephone, 01xxx/02xxx = geographic. The (0) is sometimes shown in international format (+44 (0)20...) but not dialed.